Casey with the stick

Semi-lyric poem semi-satirist in worms of fourteen feet writes in 1888 by Ernest Lawrence Thayer (original title: Casey At the beats) and translates into French in 2007 by Paul Laurendeau.

The text tells the history of the last sleeve of part of baseball between the team of the fictitious municipality of Mudville and not designated a visitor team. Mudville loses 4 to 2 (5 to 3 in the French version, which has the same consequences exactly) and hopes that the large Casey striker will come to the stick to rectify the situation. This last arises to the marble (thanks to the sure blows carried by two of its fellow-members, however scorned of crowd) but, in an attitude of impertinence similar to that of hare of the fable of Lafontaine, it lets pass two good balls without trying to strike them and is finally made withdraw with the third to launch, finishing the part on a defeat of its team.

This text, which is a part of anthology in the USA, was recited thousands of times by various actors of theater and light comedy since its publication in the San Francisco Examiner in June 1888. It also made the object of multiple versions, parodies, continuations and adaptations literary and cinematographic. Its fall, sad and discouraging, is in rupture with the mythology of the happy end ( happy end ) so typical of American literary lyricism. The original version of the following stanza, the last of the text, is known by heart by many American and Canadian:

Some share in this beautiful country, the sun is shining and shone.

Some share a concert takes place. Some share one smiles.

Some share of people sing, of the children jump to bell-foot.

But Mudville is without joy: large Casey is withdrawn.

In 1946, Walt Disney produced a short-measuring of animation putting in scene a version of the poem not very faithful to its concept of origin (Casey less seems there one player talented but conceited that like a layer without talent which is made distract from its task by the female portion of its supporters).

Bonds

" Casey with the bâton"
Casey At the bldg. Web site on the author, his sources of inspiration, a chronology of the multiple publications and the complete text of the original version of the poem (in English).

Random links: